A variety of industries utilize conveyor belts to transport goods and materials from one place to another. Generally, material is deposited onto the upstream end of the upper or carry run of a belt and is discharged at the downstream end of the carry run of the belt. However, small amounts of material often remain adhered to the belt surface. That material can remain adhered as the belt travels along the lower or return run and back to the carry run. As is known, it is desirable to scrape the belt clean so that it is free of material adhered thereto.
Secondary belt cleaners are mounted downstream of the head pulley under the conveyor belt. Generally the belt cleaners are operatively mounted to an elongate mounting pole that extends below and across the belt. The cleaning blades of the belt cleaners are biased into engagement with the conveyor belt and remove the material adhered thereto.
Resilient mounts located at either end of the elongate pole or support member provide limited vertical and/or rotational movement to minimize damage to the belt and splices formed therealong and maximize material removal. Examples of resilient mounts include spring tensioners and pneumatic tensioners. In addition, resiliently mounted cleaning blades further minimize belt damage and maximize material removal. The resilient mounts typically bias the cleaning blades into engagement with the belt. In addition, the cleaning blades move with the conveyor belt as the cleaning blades encounter surface irregularities, such as metallic belt fasteners used to splice the conveyor belt.
Over time the cleaning blades of belt cleaners require maintenance and/or replacement. Some prior belt cleaners include elongate members removably mounted to the resilient mounts, allowing an operator to remove the elongate member and cleaning blades out from under the conveyor belt to perform maintenance. However, this configuration requires that the operator have access to both ends of the belt scraper assembly to dismount the elongate member. Further, due to the weight and size of the elongate support, removal and reinstallation may require several operators and/or mechanical assistance.
Recent belt cleaners include cleaner blades configured to be laterally translated along the elongate member, thereby allowing an operator to remove and replace the cleaner blades out from under the conveyor belt without having to remove the elongate support member. Further, the operator only needs access to one side of the belt cleaner to remove and replace the cleaner blades. In one prior belt cleaner, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,249,650 to Stahura, several blade members are linked together to form a single unit under the conveyor belt. This approach requires an operator to individually remove each blade member from the elongate support member, then individually reinstall each blade member on the elongate support assembly. As a result, the operator is required to work below the belt for an extended period of time, during which the belt should be rendered inoperable. Space constraints adjacent the belt scraper assembly could further impede timely maintenance activities.
In other belt cleaners, the scraper blades are mounted onto a removable cartridge member or rail member. In one such configuration, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,581,754 to Law, the rail member defines a cavity extending along its length to receive the elongate support therein. The belt scraper assembly is configured to have clearance between the larger rail member cavity and the smaller elongate support extending along the lengths thereof. The clearance eases installation of the rail member on the elongate support and minimizes friction therebetween. However, material removed from the conveyor belt readily can collect in the clearance. Material accumulated in the clearance adheres to both the rail member and the elongate support along the lengths thereof and effectively binds the rail member to the support so that the belt cleaner cannot be easily manually removed if it is able to be manually removed at all. As a result, an operator must provide sufficient force to overcome the strength of the material adhering the rail member to the elongate support, such as by application of multiple mallet blows to the end of the rail member.
Thus, prior belt scraper assemblies suffer from problems with providing simple and quick maintenance in an environment which is subjected to loose material passing therethrough.